The conservative leader and media billionaire Silvio Berlusconi regained power in Italy, being elected Monday as prime minister of the country for the third time.

"I'm moved. I feel a great responsibility," he said in a phone call to RAI public television.

The center left leader Walter Veltroni declared he had called Berlusconi to congratulate him when the results of the election were clear.
Surveys previous to the elections showed that 71-year-old Berlusconi had a significant advance in the political race.

The Italian television RAI estimated that Berlusconi’s bloc would occupy 163 out of the 315 seats of the Senate. The remaining 141 seats would be occupied by Veltroni’s Democratic Party and allies.

For the 71-year-old media magnate, this would be his third term as Prime Minister. Berlusconi, of the People of Freedom Party, had his first mandate from May 1994 to January 1995 and his second from April 2005 to May 2006.

“Berlusconi is perceived as a flag of freedom, and that is enough to make him a symbol, a very efficient symbol of something different from traditional politics," newspaper editor Giuliano Ferrara told CNN in February.

Berlusconi and Veltroni both had similar ideas presented in their electoral programs, promising to reduce Italy’s public debt, to cut the taxes and also to liberalize the highly regulated services sector.

As Berlusconi has always had a positive attitude towards the United States, he is expected to improve the relationship between the two countries. He once declared he considered President Bush a friend, and he is expected to tighten Italy’s ties with the U.S. regardless of who becomes the next American president.

In comments following the elections, Berlusconi expressed his desire to cooperate with the opposition.